A Time To Be Thankful For What Matters Most

We are so thankful to have our little girl and boy home as we approach the holidays!

The fall has been beautiful, and things are beginning to turn colder here. So we still take advantage of the warmer days for walks, and are starting to get into a routine here at home.

The last several weeks have presented some feeding challenges for both of the kids, but especially for Katharine. She had been having a great deal of discomfort when eating, which caused lots of screaming and crying and spit ups, and unfortunately not enough eating and growing. Many long days and nights of worry caused us to visit the doctor a few times a week to try to pinpoint a treatment which would give her relief from the excessive acid reflux she was experiencing. Finally after three weeks, we were sent to a GI specialist, who recommended simplifying her medications to just one in greater strength, and going back to thickening her feeds, as they had done in the hospital.

While a follow up exam showed that all is functioning properly and that her delayed swallow reflex was corrected, thickening of her milk now allows her to keep it down better, helping to control acid reflux and spit ups. As soon as we made this change, she began to double what she can eat, and has not had spit ups as frequently. Christopher also had been having more reflux symptoms than before, as he is getting bigger and eating more. So the pediatrician recommended thickening his feeds too, and now they are both eating with greater ease.

We learned that this is not necessarily a step backward in their development, it is common among babies to reflux, and sometimes even a little rice cereal in the milk solves the problem. And eventually rice cereal will be a first food. We are using a different gel thickener we became used to in the hospital, and it is a very easy change that has made a world of difference for the kids! At their pediatrician’s appointment this week, Katharine’s weight broke the eight pound mark at eight pounds, two ounces! And Christopher is our big boy at ten pounds, two ounces!

The alleviation of this constant worry has made all of our lives easier and happier this last week, and we are beginning to settle into a routine. We are getting a little more sleep, and are glad to have help coming in a couple times a week to give Mama a break and give us both one good night's sleep a week.

We have been SO grateful for all the kindness of our friends who have come to brighten long days, bring meals, and lend moral support. And let’s not forget the cookie-laden care packages from Grandmas and Grandpas!! There have been moments when we truly needed to be lifted, and we thank you so much for doing just that!

We realized that we have taken shamefully few photos so far this month, and now that things are calmer, we are eager to capture and share more of those “almost smiles”, fun in the activity gym, and other precious moments to come! We look forward to sharing the kids’ first Thanksgiving this next week with Grandma and Grandpa Keller, which will also be sure to provide lots of opportunities for several sweet photos!


This post is our thanks-giving to all of you for your love and support, for being there, for listening, and for sending your love and prayers to our family throughout this year. We are so thankful for you, and for the kids, and to God for bringing our little ones home safely to us!



UPDATE:

We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa Keller for our very first Thanksgiving! We had a lot of fun visiting, sharing our thankfulness, and decorating our first Christmas tree! Complete photos for the month, including the holiday are now ready at our kodak gallery link! Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=836744249905%3A1272939009&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee




Wishing a wonderful December to all!

With Love,

Andrea, David, Christopher, and Katharine


P.S. We became aware through the blog of fellow NICU parents that November is Prematurity Awareness Month! I was surprised to learn that 1 in every 8 babies is born prematurely. As I read through the posts of other parents on the March of Dimes site, I was struck by one that made this comparison; "You never notice how many red cars are out there until you drive a red car."

Through our experience in the NICU, we have heard so many stories from people who had, or knew, or were children born prematurely. Some of these stories have been inspiring, and some have been heartbreaking.

And we are truly grateful for the way our lives have been blessed by the doctors and nurses of the HRP wing this summer and in the NICU's at Fairfax and Fair Oaks this fall.

The March of Dimes does wonderful work for all those touched by these challenging and sometimes tragic births. You can find more information at http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurityawareness.html

Our First Weeks At Home (aka Weeks 10, 11, and 12)

A Very Happy Fall To All!

Ours has been even happier with the kids at home! I have finally gotten all the photos from our first weeks at home together. Here is the link for pictures of Weeks 10,11, and 12, give or take a few days.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=277668158905%3A1428446907&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Beginning in November, we will be likely to just post monthly updates for the blog and add information as we go. As soon as we get some photos ready for each month, we’ll post the link so you can check at your leisure throughout the month as we continuously add photos and update that post with our new doings.

In the meantime, we are loving our time at home with the kids! Snuggle time is so much nicer now that it’s not scheduled, gowned, and supervised! And we try to take full advantage of this privilege, while still giving the kids and ourselves time for sleep. ☺

We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa Sturgeon, and Grandma stayed for a week to visit and help out after David returned to work. Christopher and Katharine enjoyed the stories she told in the rocking chair, and Mom and Dad were glad for the extra TLC. ☺

We took our first outing with the kids to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens on a gorgeous day, and it was wonderful to just be out in the fresh fall air with them after such a long time under the fluorescent lights. We have also enjoyed a few nice first walks together in our neighborhood, and taking photos in our cute Halloween outfits to commemorate the season.

Our first weeks have also been punctuated by a few standard visits to the pediatrician, as well as a follow-up appointment to Katharine’s cardiologist from the hospital.

We are thrilled to share some news and thank you all for your prayers regarding the PDA that Katharine had been diagnosed with early on. We had been told it would not be likely to close on its own due to its nature and size, and we shared our prayer concern with you that she would at best be facing a procedure down the road. The spectacular news we received at the follow up appointment is that she no longer has the PDA at all! It HAS closed on its own, and that is one less hurdle our little girl will need to face! Thanks to God and to all of you for keeping her and us in your prayers. We are so grateful for this blessing!

We will continue to share news and fun stories over time, as we enjoy getting know our little ones better, and they us.

Wishing you a wonderful end to fall!

With Love,

Andrea, David, Katharine, and Christopher